This stone marking the grave of the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke depicts a whole rest beneath a fermata, marked fortissimo (an extremely long, emphatic silence).
A fermata (also known as a hold, pause, colloquially a birdseye or cyclops eye, or as a grand pause when placed on a note or a rest) is a symbol of musical notation indicating that the note should be prolonged beyond the normal duration its note value would indicate. Exactly how much longer it is held is up to the discretion of the performer or conductor, but twice as long is common. It is usually printed above but can be occasionally below (when it is upside down) the note to be extended.
Obviously, on a tombstone, it means "eternal rest."
ReplyDelete?but why did they add the fortissimo?
Deletet's a fortississimo sign, louder than fortissimo. It doesn't make a lot of musical sense to mark a full bar rest with any kind of dynamic, so I suspect it’s more of an artistic implication of profound silence as you suggest.
DeleteFermatas' durations are ALWAYS at the discretion of the conductor, so the further implication, I believe, is that the rest will last as long as the cosmic ‘conductor’ dictates.
Or perhaps the fortississimo signifies Judgment Day, when "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible" (I Corinthians 15:52-53).
DeleteTo express a "deafening silence"?
DeleteGo listen to any of Shnitke's music. His 4th violin concerto is as good a starting point as any (and better than some). It's not triple-forte throughout, but it is definitely the work of a triple-forte personality.
ReplyDeletevery interesting. My daughter has just learned the fermata in Piano lessons last week, so I can test her here :)
ReplyDelete